Former UConn Basketball Star And Prosecutor Clash In Court

TRENTON, N.J. — In a blistering cross-examination Thursday, a federal prosecutor suggested that former UConn basketball star Tate George had used a fabricated document to attract investors to his real estate investment company and then testified untruthfully at his trial on federal fraud charges.

The accusations came at the end of an all-day clash between George and federal prosecutor Joseph Shumofsky, whose office has charged George with four felony counts of wire fraud, saying that he bilked investors in his real estate investment firm of more than $2 million in a Ponzi scheme.

At one point, the two men were discussing a key document that said that George's real estate company could accept money from investors and then use the money for other projects. With the front page of the document magnified on a projection screen for viewing by the 12-member jury, the prosecutor asked, "This is a fabricated document, isn't it?"

"No, it is not fabricated," George responded. "It's not a fake document."

Prosecutors charge that George's claims that he had a personal net worth of $12 million and that his company had a real estate portfolio of more than $500 million were both false because the totals in both instances were closer to zero.

George testified that more than half of the prosecution witnesses had provided incorrect testimony on various aspects of the case. He said that multiple investors were wrong when they testified that they never agreed orally to modifications that would allow their money to be used on different real estate projects.

"Isn't the reality, sir, that you're trying to come here to blame others?" the prosecutor asked.

"I'm not that type of person," George responded.

"Isn't the reality that you've provided untruthful testimony for two days?" Shumofsky asked.

"That's not true, sir," George responded.

Prosecutors charge that George took money from investors and spent it on his ex-wife, two girlfriends, his brother, his two daughters and others. But George says that any personal spending came from money that he earned legally as a developer's fee.

As he faced cross-examination in an attempt to avoid a prison sentence, George was mostly alone in the courtroom. No family members attended. No University of Connecticut basketball players or coaches — past or present — attended. George's close friend and mentor, Enrique Riley, was in the courthouse, but he was required to remain outside the courtroom because he is a witness in the case.

George clashed repeatedly with the prosecutor.

"You're charged with lying to investors to get their money," Shumofsky said to George shortly after court proceedings began Thursday. Shumofsky quickly tried to get George to admit to certain points.

"I believe I was charged with wire fraud," George responded. "Wire fraud is pretty broad."

After a long, detailed question, George responded, "That was kind of a loaded question. ... Would you like to rephrase that?"

At one point, Judge Mary Cooper told both George and Shumofsky to stop talking over each other. Shumofsky also asked the judge at times to direct George to answer questions.

At another point, George told the court: "I'm an honest person. ... It's important to be honest all the time."

The biggest question for investors and prosecutors in the trial has been what happened to the money that George received. On Thursday, Shumofsky asked about George's planned 12-home development in New Jersey that never was built.

Regarding $480,000 of investors' money in the project, Shumofsky asked, "Mr. George, what did you do with the money?"

But the prosecutor then asked about $7,100 in kitchen and bathroom renovations at George's mother's house in New Jersey. The prosecution charges that money was taken from an account set aside for a particular investor in the 12-home development.

"It's my developer fee," George testified. "I can spend it whatever way I want. What I spent it on you have determined to be illegal."

On Wednesday, under questioning from his public defender, George rejected the government's assertion that he had misled investors by saying that his real estate investment company had a portfolio of more than $500 million. George said that the figure was accurate, testifying that the total included projects in which he served as a consultant and other developments that were not yet started.

George also said that he could pay back investors with part of a lump sum pension payment of nearly $200,000 from the NBA that he had recently received.

For the past two weeks, federal prosecutors have presented evidence about what FBI agents call a Ponzi scheme operated by George. Between 2005 and 2011, the FBI says, George's "supposed real estate development business'' in reality "had virtually no business during this time."